GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
1997 SESSION
S.L. 1997-306
AN ACT TO AMEND THE CRIMINAL OFFENSE OF STALKING.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1. G.S. 14-277.3 reads as rewritten:
"§ 14-277.3. Stalking.
(a) Offense. - A person
commits the offense of stalking if the person willfully on more than one
occasion follows or is in the presence of another person without legal purpose:
purpose and
(1) With with
the intent to cause death or bodily injury or with the intent to cause emotional
distress by placing that person in reasonable fear of death or bodily injury;
injury.
(2) After
reasonable warning or request to desist by or on behalf of the other person;
and
(3) The acts
constitute a pattern of conduct over a period of time evidencing a continuity
of purpose.
(b) Classification. - A
violation of this section is a Class 2 Class 1 misdemeanor.
A person who commits the offense of stalking when there is a court order in
effect prohibiting similar behavior is guilty of a Class 1 Class A1 misdemeanor.
A second or subsequent conviction for stalking occurring within five years of a
prior conviction of the same defendant is punishable as a Class I felony."
Section 2. This act becomes effective December 1, 1997, and applies to offenses committed on or after that date.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 10th day of July, 1997.
s/ Dennis A. Wicker
President of the Senate
s/ Harold J. Brubaker
Speaker of the House of Representatives
s/ James B. Hunt, Jr.
Governor
Approved 10:45 a.m. this 17th day of July, 1997